To grind or not to grind; that is the question. That question is answered by Germany’s Necromorph in the extreme affirmative, as you’ll hear within moments of the calamitous ride that is Grinding Black Zero.

More Nasum than Insect Warfare and characterized by a relative degree of compositional diversity within grindcore parameters, Grinding Black Zero is an album that may very well appeal to more than just hardcore grindheads. There is no lack of frantic grinding madness, but the outfit writes its songs to be more than just one trick, interchangeable ponies. The problems of individual track identity that some find make grindcore little more than a blur of one-minute blast-beaters will not be found here. In addition to slivers of death metal, one is will hear songs that groove, tunes that swing, and just enough dementia to keep you off balance. That includes a bit more than the standard grind-and-shriek vocal attack, if only because it seems the band put some thought into patterning and placement. Moments as simple as a brief bout of vocal nuttiness on “Exclusive Suffering” make all the difference in the world in a grindcore context.

Whether it is an album-closing mid-tempo instrumental with samples called “Black Zero” or the outright rockin’ slam of “Necroville,” this is one album that doesn’t allow for immediate characterization when one randomly drops the proverbial needle onto the proverbial wax. Grinding Black Zero will in fact rattle that newly placed crown right out of your mouth, but you’ll actually remember the song that was playing when it happened. Then again, there is a vinyl version of the album too, so drop the “proverbial” as you see fit. In any case, this is smartly written grindcore.

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